[Rose76]

The False Knight on the Road is an old British ballad that was sung in many versions, but the Knight was always an incarnation of the devil. Typically, in many versions, he accosts a child traveling at night. He questions the child, in an attempt to intimidate the child. The moral of the story told by the song is that the child should stand his ground. If the child stands unflinchingly, the devil will be recalled to Hell. Here are just the first and the last stanza of a version I have known and loved for years.

The Knight on the Road

"What brings you here so late," said the knight on the road.
"I go to seek my God," said the child, as he stood.
And he stood
And he stood
And 'twere well that he stood.
"I go to seek my God," said the child as he stood.

"Me thinks I hear a bell," said the knight on the road.
"Ay, it's ringing you to Hell," said the child as he stood.
And he stood
And he stood
And 'twere well that he stood.
"Ay, it's ringing you to Hell," said the child as he stood.

I learned this song when I was 17, at the listening library where I went to college. It sure gives an alternative hue to the image of "standing one's ground." I used to sing it to myself, when I was afraid.

I was intrigued by the theme of refusing to flinch before the diabolical. In the song, the child had a right to be there and would not move over for the devil.

Of course, the devil was not riding in an SUV.

I don't know that this strategy, if any, would have worked better for Trayvon.

He has gone to God.

His killer is in hiding. Perhaps, he hears a bell.

[Rose76]

I don't know what your deal is.

[Rose76]

I bought a gun years ago. Here in the West, that is common. I took a course on the proper care and handling of a gun. The course included teaching on when to resort to the use of a gun for protection and the implications of doing so.

I was just thinking: "What would make me shoot someone?" Oh, I think I could do it.

As I look around at the things of value that I have, I can't imagine that the threat of losing all of it would seem sufficient reason to end another's life. Especially if the intruder were a youngster. That young life would be worth so much more than all I ever had, or ever will have. (Easy for me to say, I suppose, since I don't have a lot.)

To think of stopping a beating heart - for ever. Unnecessarily.

If a child falls down a well, the entire nation holds its breath and spares no expense to rescue the endangered one.

I will never again look at a 17 year old boy in the same way. I won't take for granted the rise and fall of his chest as he moves and breathes.